Thanks to Municipal Minute for pointing out a new blog that should be of interest to our readers. Our friend and colleague Dwight Merriam and his firm are publishing RLUIPA Defense a “one-stop comprehensive site stocked with cases, trial materials, briefs and scholarly articles all about avoiding and defending against claims taken under the Religious
9th Circuit Recognizes Property Rights
It’s the right of homeless folks in L.A.’s “Skid Row” area to not have their personal belongings seized if they leave them unattended for a while, but we will take what we can get.
In Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, No.11-56253 (Sep. 5, 2012), the Ninth Circuit held:
We conclude that the Fourth
New Complaint Challenging Kauai’s Limit On Visitor Units
An interesting new complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii, asserting claims for substantive due process, violation of the zoning enabling act, and the Kauai County Charter.
A owner of property that has been designated for resort development for 35 years is asserting that the adoption by the County’s voters of a charter amendment
HAWICA: Holdover Land Use Commissioner Not Disqualified
In a short opinion in Sierra Club v. Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, Inc., No. CAAP-11-0000625 (Aug. 24, 2012), the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals held that the Hawaii Senate’s failure to confirm a sitting Land Use Commissioner for a second term did not disqualify him under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 26-34(a):
Kanuha
Hawaii Supreme Court Smacks Rail EIS – City Needed To Evaluate Burials For “Entire Project” Before Starting To Build
This just in: as we predicted after oral arguments (see HAWSCT Oral Argument Recap – Who Defines The “Project” For Archaeological Review? and The Real “Descendants” Plays Out In The Hawaii Supreme Court – Honolulu’s $4+ Billion Rail Project In Grave Danger), in a unanimous opinion, Hawaii Supreme Court has slapped down the
Actor John Cusack Granted Tenure On Law School Faculty
If actor John Cusack is in favor of using eminent domain to condemn underwater mortgages, who are we to be naysayers? In light of his support, we’ll just have to revisit our earlier skepticism.
After all, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, you know.
“Hey Look, Free Money!” Fed Agency Has Problems With The Plan To Take Underwater Mortgages
Today’s American Banker has a story on the latest development in the let’s-use-eminent-domain-to-take-underwater-mortgages scheme: the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sent a strong shot across the bow of local governments contemplating such a move (e.g., San Bernadino, Chicago, even Berkeley):
Uh, don’t.
Full statement here, or below. The American Banker story
Chicago Part II: Land Use Institute
For those of you sticking around Chicago after the ABA Annual Meeting, there’s the opportunity for even more land use, zoning, takings, and condemnation programming. ALI-CLE (fka ALI-ABA) is putting on it’s annual Land Use Institute later this week. It looks like Planning Co-Chairs Gideon Kanner and Frank Schnidman have put together a wide-ranging
Resources From Today’s ABA Eminent Domain Session
Here are the cases and links that I discussed at today’s ABA session on eminent domain:
- Kelo – Remember the holding of the case: the Court majority rejected the petitioners’ call to adopt a blanket rule that all takings supported only by claims of economic development violate the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Supreme Court Declines To Review Challenge To Native Hawaiian Property Tax Exemptions
The Courrt has denied certiorari in Corboy v. Louie, No. 11-336, the case asking the Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court’s dismissal of a challenge to the property tax exemptions conferred on lessees of Hawaiian Homesteads. The petitioners claim this is an unconstitutional race-based classification, but the Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed for lack